Anxiety and panic attacks used to be a part of my daily (and nightly) reality. I felt like I was fighting a constant battle in my own mind and body that was impossible to express in words. But there is one specific question that has helped me immensely since I have begun to ask it. It’s such a simple question, but sometimes the simplest introspective questions have the biggest effect on our mindset when we answer them with honesty, self-compassion and courage.
“Don’t talk to strangers!” For some of us, this grim warning given by so many grown-ups during our childhood years seems to have gotten itself lodged firmly in our adult brains. But have you ever asked yourself what exactly you’re afraid of?
I hope this list can help you if you are at a loss as to how to support someone who is fighting their own life-eating leeches. Or, if you are that someone, you can choose to pass this list on to the super-heroes in your life who feel powerless to help you.
From that first day of gratitude journaling things began to shift, I started to see and experience things I had been taking for granted because I was actively looking for them throughout the day. The world didn’t change, but my outlook did – and that, in turn, changed my world.
So what exactly is an affirmation? It’s a statement which challenges your negative thoughts and helps you get into a more positive I believe they work because they drown out all our negative mental chatter with something positive. We can grab on to those words like a bright pink doughnut pool floatie in the dark and tumultuous sea of our own negative thoughts. Then we can hold on tight until those words carry us to calmer seas and warm, sunny shores which mark the beginning of endless possibilities.mindset.
Towards the end of last year I was offered the opportunity to facilitate a depression and anxiety support group. I hope that gathering all of these lessons I’ve been privileged enough to learn will inspire you to leap at the opportunity you’re considering running away from.
Anxiety causes your body and brain to turn traitorously against you, thereby limiting and frightening you. One of the ways it twists your reality is by causing you to feel completely overwhelmed by even the littlest things. Coping with anxiety means taking control of your life and thoughts in a healthy way, so I sincerely hope these ideas help you overcome the feeling of being overwhelmed and move you to a place of balance and peace.
You can and should accept help and support, you have to decide to get out of your own way. You have to decide to push through the fear, to be honest with yourself about your limitations and your excuses and to just do what you’re putting off with the only criteria for success being “did the thing”.
Portal to Change 